


It's The Little Things...

by paper_back_writer



Series: Not Looking 'Verse [4]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dom/sub Undertones, M/M, Older Jared, References to Knotting, Werewolf Mates, Younger Jensen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-06 09:59:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3130409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paper_back_writer/pseuds/paper_back_writer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared and Jensen wake up, mated...and all they know about each other are their first names. - Jared and Jensen are still getting to know each other. It's taking some getting used to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's The Little Things...

Jared heard the groan over the whirr of the running machine and the pounding of his bare feet. Without breaking his stride, he glanced over and saw one green blurry eye regarding him from beneath a mop of blonde hair. Jensen was not a morning person.  
  
  
Jared was used to his 5:45am alarm going off and being instantly wide awake, a throwback from college when he was training, working two jobs and trying to cram studying into his day. He was amused to find that if Jensen surfaced before 9am it was a miracle, but he still wasn't sure if this was his usual routine or Jensen adjusting to his new life. The two weeks they had been together hadn't exactly been typical weeks. Even though Jared was working at home in fits and starts, they were both pretty much running on vacation time. They watched crap TV, ate junk food, played PS3, planned to go out but enviably ended up fucking. And then there were the long hours afterward, tied together.  
  
Jared wasn't one for sitting around or sharing. If someone had come to Jared before he met Jensen, and told him what he would be doing the last fourteen days, he would never have believed them. But he had spent the better part of his time listening to Jensen rattling on; about the winter vacation he'd spent with his cousins in Maine (when they tried to persuade him that _only_ the yellow snow was good to eat), or how he likes black olives but not green ones (unless they're the stuffed kind with the cheese and pepper where the pit should be), with Jensen spooned up against Jared's chest, playing with the webbing on Jared's hand while Jared sleepily inhaled the scent from the base of Jensen's neck.  
  
Or that Jensen would be in his lap, the pair of them wrapped in a blanket on the couch. Jensen brushing Jared's hair back from his face and massaging his scalp while Jared let his eyes droop closed, head fall back as he allowed the whole painful saga  – of the accident and the surgerys and his dreams of a professional sports career being smashed to pieces in a matter of seconds, even though he'd kept the hope alive for months– to just come spilling out.  
  
And if someone had told him about the deep feeling of contentment and rightness, how easy it would be to share his life story like that and how intensely he wanted to know every tiny detail of Jensen's life, he would have laughed in their face. He wasn't the sharing and caring type, and nowhere near ready to settle down. Except for Jensen, it seemed.  
  
  
Jensen coughed and raised his head a fraction, just enough for Jared to catch sight of red creases etched in his face from the pillow. "What time is it?" Jensen croaked like he'd been up half the night drinking whiskey – which was only partly true. There was beer, but no whiskey.  
  
Jared turned back to the TV screen mounted on the wall, and kept up his steady pace. "Six-thirty."  
  
There was another, more dramatic groan, and then a muffled, "Jesus Christ, Jay. Are you gonna do this every morning?"  
  
The runner on the screen dived for the plate, too late as it turned out, just as Jared used the remote to shut off the TV. He pressed a couple of buttons on the control panel of the running machine and it gradually came to a halt; walking out the last few yards with a towel in his hand, wiping the sweat from his face and neck.  
  
He stepped off the running belt and wandered over to the bed. "Yes, Jen. You gonna be a bitch about it every morning?"  
  
Jensen's arm appeared, flapping back the sheets, revealing his scruffy bedhead, blotchy, crease-marked skin, and bits of white funk crusting the corners of his mouth. "I need my beauty sleep, y'know?"  
  
Jared raised an eyebrow. "Clearly."  
  
All Jared got was a muttered, "Fuck you." before Jensen was buried back in the covers once more.  
  
It was hard to say whether it was because they were mated – the hormonal changes in his body creating the physical and psychological ties between them – or whether it was just Jensen, but Jared couldn't think of the kid as anything but adorable. Jensen made him feel stupid, and when Jensen acted out like this, Jared's wolf just rolled on its back and showed its belly like he was a twelve year old. It was embarrassing how much Jared liked it.  
  
Jared clambered onto the bed, arms and legs straddling the Jensen-shaped lump beneath him. "Oh, come on, Jen..." The lump mumbled something that sounded pretty offensive but Jared just lowered his head, and said quiet and low, "Shut the fuck up and turn over, Omega."  
  
When Jensen turned on to his back, the motion pulled the sheet away from his face. Jared couldn't help but smirk at the cheeky smile on Jensen's lips. He had half a mind to lean down and kiss him but he had other more pressing plans, and dragged the rest of the sheet away from Jensen's naked body as he backed down the bed.  
  
Jared kissed down Jensen's chest as he went, licking at his nipples and the sensitive areas down the sides of his rib cage. He nuzzled across his soft belly, feeling the muscles twitch as he got closer to Jensen's cock, lying expectantly on his thigh, quietly fattening in preparation for Jared's mouth. Jared's hands slid under Jensen's ass and cupped his cheeks. They had been practicing this.  
  
The urge for them to mate, even though Jensen wasn't in heat, was strong. For the first week or so practically all Jared did was knot Jensen over and over. But in terms of practicality, being tied to someone 6 hours a day was a little tricky. Adding to their repertoire in bed seemed like a good way to take the edge off and still be able to go out for coffee. So they were getting to know each other this way too.  
  
Jared discovered he loved the taste of Jensen; that the mate scent that Jared found so utterly intoxicating, translated to his bodily fluids too. Luckily, Jensen seemed quite fond of Jared's mouth, especially of grabbing him by his hair and fucking it as he came, arching his back and filling Jared's humming throat.  
  
And Jensen didn't seem to mind returning the favor either, when Jared would crawl up, thighs bracketing Jensen's head, and press his aching cock between Jensen's lips. Jensen would take hold of the base and squeeze Jared's engorging knot while Jared fucked him down into the pillow, throwing his head back and coming with a shout, oblivious to Jensen's wet eyes and gasps for breath when he finally pulled out.  
  
Jared did notice once he'd flopped down onto the bed beside Jensen. He glanced over and felt a sting of guilt under the satisfaction. He started to say, _Are you okay?_ but Jensen cut him off.  
  
"Don't ruin it."  
  
"Ruin, what?"  
  
Jensen rolled over to face him, blood red lips framing his used mouth, making Jared want to do the whole thing again. "Ruin the moment. You always act like I'm some fragile flower that's gonna break down just 'cause the big bad wolf had his wicked way with me."  
  
Jared reached over and cupped Jensen's jaw, wiping the tear tracks with his thumb. "Do I always do that?"  
  
"Yup." Jensen yawned, "Every time."  
  
"You want me to stop?"  
  
Jensen smiled and leant forward, pressing his forehead to Jared's shoulder. "I wanna sleep."  
  
Jared sat up. "Okay, Princess. You definitely need more beauty sleep." Jensen growled and pressed his face back into the pillow. Jared paused for a moment, watching Jensen's shoulders relax, then, unable to resist, buried his face in Jensen's neck, murmuring, "Big bad wolf? Really?" Jensen growled louder and shoved a laughing Jared off the bed.

~*~

  
Jensen didn't show his face until after 10am. Jared was finishing up an email in his office when he saw Jensen pass by the door. Jared glimpsed him out of the corner of his eye then did a double take. He was well aware that Jensen liked to walk around the apartment stark naked – didn't mean he'd gotten used to it –  it still surprised him to see Jensen wandering about wearing nothing but freckles.  
  
Mrs Johnson from the floor above had been pretty surprised too. By the fourth day of extremely vocal sex, she'd had enough and had come down to complain. Jared had the presence of mind to pull jeans on over his boxers before answering the door, all apologies and promises, actually wishing he'd grabbed a shirt too when her gaze flicked to his naked chest. But when he sensed Jensen walking across the room behind him, and Mrs Johnson's eyes tracked left to right, getting larger and larger behind her glasses, her skin flushing redder and redder, he almost couldn't keep his amusement under control.  
  
  
"You totally did that on purpose, didn't you?"  
  
"Well, I bet she only came down to take a look..."  
  
"You traumatised that poor woman with your naked ass."  
  
"Yeah, but I looked good! And it should shut her up for a bit...unless she thinks you might be pant-less next time."  
  
~*~  
  
Jensen was back thirty minutes later, showered and breakfasted, as Jared pressed _send_ on his last bit of correspondence. He leant back in his chair, admiring his empty inbox, just as Jensen put a fresh cup of coffee in front of him and leaned his ass against the desk to sit. He'd changed into loose black jeans and a soft grey tee-shirt but was still bare foot. He rubbed his toes together, as he asked, "Can we please go shopping? There's nothing to eat."  
  
"We have groceries." Jared rested one hand on Jensen's thigh, and sipped at his mug.  
  
"No..." Jensen insisted, "We have snacks. You buy snacks. There's no actual food. We keep eating like this I'm gonna get diabetes. I need real food. Your refrigerator looks like Tyler Durden lives here."  
  
The computer pinged with incoming mail. Jared silently cursed it. He looked up at Jensen. "Tyler Durden?"  
  
"All condiments but nothing to eat?" Jensen looked at him wide eyed, then mumbled, "Jesus. Clearly we need to watch a movie later too." Jared's inbox pinged again. Jensen started to stand, saying, "I'm sorry, you're working..." But Jared pulled him back down.  
  
"You're right. We need...stuff. But I sure as hell hope you can cook because I cannot."  
  
Jensen's face lit up and he playfully squeezed Jared's cheeks together. "Well, then you're in luck! Come on...let's go now before you get another thousand emails!"  
  
Jared stared into his coffee mug and called after Jensen as he scampered away. "Can I please finish my coffee first?" But his computer pinged again and he figured he may as well put his travel mug to use. A thousand emails might not be an exaggeration.

~*~

  
An hour later, Jared was stood in the dairy section of the grocery store, one hand on the trolley, the other holding his cell, his thumb sending an angry text to Chad. The first couple of days that Chad had been texting him links to sex clubs specialising in live Were sex -- _U guys cud make a fortune! Seriously! --_ it was vaguely funny. Now, Jared was thinking he might have to rip Chad's texting fingers off just to get him to stop.  
  
As he was trying to figure out if five exclamation points was enough to get across how pissed he was, or if he needed to resort to an emoticon, he heard a vaguely familiar voice call his name. Jared looked up and groaned internally. Richard from accounting was walking towards him holding a six-pack of something cheap, and two baguettes, wearing that stupid smug smile that always managed to rub Jared up the wrong way.  
  
It wasn't that Jared wasn't out at work. He just wasn't _out_ out. People mostly knew, but no one really mentioned it. There were a couple of people who were definitely offended by Jared being a Were but generally as long as he wasn't wolfing out during the weekly debrief then nobody cared. Except for Richard.  
  
Richard seemed to think that Jared being a Were was hilarious and felt the need to point it out as much as he possibly could. But never directly. Everything became a double entendre to him. The guy winkwinknudgenudged so much you would have thought he'd invented the thing. Jared wasn't sure whether Richard had a problem with him or if he was just an ass but It really didn't matter. Richard pissed him off, and he avoided him as much as possible. So getting ambushed by Yogurts and Desserts was never going to be the highlight of his day.  
  
"Jay! How are you, man? Heard you had to take some time off...nothing serious I hope. Or is it just your time of the month?" Richard grinned and Jared wanted to rip his throat out.  
  
Instead, he smiled politely and said, "Hey Dick. Nope, just needed some personal time." He nodded at Richard's purchases. "Looks like you have a wild night planned."  
  
Richard followed his gaze and nodded sadly. "Got the afternoon off. The mother in law is coming over. I'm planning on getting pleasantly buzzed, and throwing carbs in her direction keeps her occupied and away from me. So Jay, when are you planning on coming into the office? I've got a couple of queries on your expenses I need to talk about"  
  
Jared took a breath, hoping that when he opened his mouth a plausible explanation would find its way out, when Jensen wandered over, contemplating two vacuum packed items in his hands. "Jay? How do you feel about Brie? Is that a bit too adventurous for you? Or do you just want to get...?" Jensen stopped dead when he realised that Jared wasn't alone, and looking at Richard, said, "Hi."  
  
Richard's smile was part-creepy, part-confused, and Jared suddenly realised that Chad, the weirdo, had kept his mouth shut for once and obviously hadn't told the grapevine why Jared wasn't at work. He coughed. "Um, Jen, this is Dick. We work together. Dick, this is my..."  
  
And that was it. His brain froze. The word 'mate' was right on the tip of his tongue but he just couldn't seem to form it in his mouth. He didn't want to say it out loud, not to someone like Richard. He didn't want to expose Jensen to Richard's scrutiny either. So he just stood there, while Jensen and Richard raised their eyebrows at him in anticipation.  
  
Eventually, Jensen snorted out a laugh and dropped both packets of cheese into the trolley. "Yeah, you're gonna have to forgive him...he's totally ashamed of me." Jensen smiled wide, and stuck out his hand. "Hi, I'm Jensen, Jared's husband."  
  
For a moment, Richard just stared but when he did take Jensen's hand, he shook it with enthusiasm. "Well...I'll be damned! We didn't even know he was seeing anyone..."  
  
Jensen smirked and pulled his hand back, surreptitiously wiping his palm on the back of his jeans. "Well, you could say it was a spur of the moment...Vegas type thing."  
  
Richard's eyes ran unashamedly over Jensen's body. "Yeah...I bet." The motion of Richards gaze managed to trigger Jared's brain back to reality and he cleared his throat loudly. Richard managed to tear his eyes away from where they had reached Jensen's crotch, and smiled widely at Jared. "Well, I can see now why you'd need that " _personal time_ "." Even with his hands full, he still managed to do air quotes and Jared seriously considered the throat-ripping-out thing again. "Well, I guess I should leave you two love birds to it...although I guess it's more puppy love, amiright!?" Jared bristled but Richard didn't notice. "Although, you guys should really get rings if you wanna blend in...and maybe something to hide that scar on your boy's neck...you know how people talk, Jay..."  
  
He definitely did notice when Jared stood up to his full height, body tensing with the weight of his wolf pushing at his skin, but the grip of Jensen's hand on his arm forced it back down. Jensen smiled, and said, "Well, it was nice to meet you, Richard." His tone was polite but it was a very clear shutdown. Richard was already instinctively starting to move away when Jensen added, "See you around."  
  
Richard called out. "Nice to meet you too. See you later, Jay. Enjoy your personal time!" And disappeared towards the checkout.  
  
Jared stared after him, feeling furious and somehow embarrassed at the same time. He looked down at his mate when Jensen nudged him with his shoulder. "Are all your friends like this? Do you even know any normal people?" He was smiling but Jared couldn't help but notice the way his hand had come up to cover the mating bite that was only half visible under the neck of his teeshirt.  
  
Jared took hold of Jensen's fingers and pulled them away from the scar and up to his mouth. He softly pressed his lips to them, and said quietly, "He is not my friend. Come on. Let's get this done. I want to make a stop on the way home."  
  
~•~  
  
The stop was the jewellery store just around the corner from the bakery that was Jared's regular coffee vendor on his way into the office. Jensen laughed hysterically when he realized where they were going. He didn't stop until they were inside and he caught the look of guilt on Jared's face. Then Jensen was quiet, deferring to Jared, letting him make the choices; plain platinum bands with a line of white opal, no engraving. He did speak up when he saw the price tags, but Jared insisted that it wasn't a problem. He just took the rings out of their boxes; slipped his own on and then carefully worked Jensen's onto his ring finger, simply saying, "There." Then he put his hand on the small of Jensen's back and walked them out of the store, leaving the packaging on the counter.

~•~

  
Jensen had bought enough food to feed them for a month. At least that's what it felt like when Jared was carrying the bulk of it down the hall. Thankfully, Jensen had propped the apartment door open so he could walk straight through to the kitchen and dump the bags unceremoniously onto the counter.  
  
Jared flexed his hands; they were crumpled and red from the weight of the bags. He couldn't help but look down to where the ring on his finger pinched into his skin. He turned the band slowly, the sensation alien and cloying. He didn't hear Jensen close the apartment door and almost didn't hear him walk up, until his mate was practically under his nose.  
  
"You didn't have to do it, y'know." Jensen's face was a little sad when Jared looked up but he smiled softly to cover it. "Just 'cause that jackass makes a crack about us blending in..."  
  
"No. No, it wasn't about that." Jared mumbled, not attempting to draw Jensen nearer but Jensen stepped into his space all the same, saying softly, "Well, what was it about then?"  
  
Jared took a deep breath, and wrapped his arms around his mate, his husband, drawing his body close and his scent into his lungs. "I didn't want you to think I was ashamed of you." His voice was resigned, half expecting Jensen to laugh, and poke fun at him.  
  
But instead, Jensen looked horrified. "What are you...? That was a joke! I didn't mean...I didn't think..."  
  
"I know." Jared interrupted, "I _do_ know. I'd been planning to get us rings after we'd registered anyway, but we haven't gotten around to that yet, and I wanted...I _needed_ you to know...that I'm taking this seriously...taking _you_ seriously..."  
  
Jensen did laugh then. "You're so weird. You're _always_ serious...I wouldn't expect you to take me any other way."  
  
Jensen reached up and cupping Jared's jaw, drawing him down into a kiss. Jared rolled his eyes and made a show of resisting but moments later they were enveloped in each other, tongues exploring deep into each other's mouths, lips working together, skin tingling in anticipation. Until something that sounded horribly like the worse kind of 70's disco to Jared, blared out from Jensen's back pocket.  
  
Jared straightened abruptly, not relinquishing his hold on Jensen and asked, "What in the hell is that?"  
  
Jensen laughed and pulled his cell out. His grin quickly fell away when he saw the caller ID on the screen. He put his hand on Jared's chest and squirmed out of his grip, walking away with no explanation. Jared stood and watched Jensen turn away from him. It was agonising for those few moments; Jensen running his hand up into his hair, gripping it tight, his back tensing as he just stared at the phone in his hand. Then he swiped his finger across the screen and put the cell to his ear. "Mom? Is everything okay?"  
  
Jared felt like the breath had been punched out of him. For a minute, he looked on as Jensen wandered over to the window, ducking his head and resting it on the glass, covering his eyes or running his finger over the pane, answering _Yes_ or _No_ or _I don't know_ over and over in nothing more than a whisper. But then Jared suddenly felt gross, as if he were intruding, so he made his way to the kitchen and started to unpack the groceries.  
  
Jared had only managed to put a few items away when a laugh from Jensen shocked him into turning around. Jensen was beaming. He tipped the phone slightly away from his mouth and said, "They think you kidnapped me!" He could barely contain the giggles coming out of his throat. "They...oh god...they think I'm your sex slave."  
  
And that was it. The pair of them erupted into fits of laughter. Jared was hanging onto the kitchen counter struggling to breathe, and the way Jensen was trying to apologize through his giggling just made it all the worse. Jensen was the first to pull himself together. "I'm sorry, no mom...really. It's just...no, I promise. Honestly. We're mated...married..." He looked up and caught Jared's eye beaming like an idiot. "We have rings and everything."  
  
Jared took a few deep breaths, wiped his eyes and went back to filling the refrigerator, smiling wide and grateful that the tension was gone from the room. Except, after a few more clipped words from Jensen, Jared heard him say, "Is he there now?...Okay...you sure he wants to talk to...? Okay then..." Jensen glanced up furtively in Jared's direction, saying, "Hey, Col." as he disappeared down the hall to the bedroom.  
  
~*~  
  
Jensen was gone long enough that when he came back, Jared had squared away all the food, and the beer bottle in his hand was half empty.  
  
Jensen kept his head tucked down, but glanced up, brandishing his cell before placing it on the kitchen counter. "So, my mom called."  
  
Jared nodded and handed him the bottle that was waiting next to him. "So I gathered. Is everything okay?"  
  
Jensen swigged his beer and nodded. "Yes. Yes I think so. They...she wanted to check that I hadn't been sold to some kind of Were brothel or something."  
  
"Sounds like they may have been talking to Chad." Jensen laughed and raised his head enough that Jared could see he had been crying. He hesitated for a moment, fearing he might be pushing too hard, but asked anyway, "Who's Col?"  
  
Jensen snorted out a laugh. His body language stiffened and he shifted, uncomfortable where he stood. When he ran his hand up into his hair and gripped it, Jared regretted saying anything. It was clearly too upsetting. Jensen garbled out, "It's complicated." but then he relaxed, seemingly resigned to it and said breathily, "Colin...My brother."  
  
Jared raised his eyebrows. "You have a brother?" Jensen nodded. "And you're only just mentioning this now?"  
  
Jensen shrugged and took another huge gulp from his bottle. "Like I said, it's complicated...and...well, being that he's coming to dinner next week, I thought now might be a good time."  
  
Jared felt his new ring clink against the beer bottle as he fumbled it in his hand, just catching it as it slopped beer and bubbles into his jeans, and wondered what was more likely -- that he'd somehow ended up in an episode of The Twilight Zone, or Candid Camera.

**Author's Note:**

> Please send loads of love and hugs to somersault_j, reggie11 and deansdirtybb for betaing the shit out of this, and putting up with me being all kinds of uncommunicative. They are so fab, I couldn't do this without them. Of course, I went back in and messed with their hard work, so any remaining mistakes are mine. Feel free to point them out.
> 
>  
> 
> These are my words. Characters that bear the names of actors in this story have no relation to the real life people of the same name. They simply have the misfortune to be cast in my sordid little tale. No profit is made from this.
> 
> I do NOT give my permission for this, or any of my other works to be posted or linked to outside of Fandom. If you would like to rec on AO3, LiveJournal or tumblr, that's fine, but let's leave the smut where it belongs.
> 
> As of the sixth installment of this verse, I'm making a retcon. Jared was a football scout. I'm changing that to baseball. Coz, reasons : ) Please let me know if I've missed any references.


End file.
